From Counting Sheep To Counting Pills
3 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // March 14th, 2007 // 6:40 pm
Here’s something that ought to keep an FDA safety officer awake at night: Americans of all ages are taking more sleeping pills than ever before.
Consider that usage by adults between 20 and 44 years old rose by 128 percent between 2000 and 2005. And the amount spent on sleeping pills by this age group rose 289 percent.
Particularly startling is usage by kids - that’s right, the number children between the ages of 10 and 19 taking sleeping pills jumped 114 percent during the same five-year period. As the chart makes clear, usage across all age groups - both male and female - jumped significantly.
This activity coincides with the recent arrival of a new version of Sanofi-Aventis’ Ambien, known as Ambien CR, and Sepracor’s Lunesta, which sparked a fierce marketing battle that was recently joined by Takeda’s Rozerem.
The FDA move to require tougher warning labels and patient med guides is overdue. Bizarre reports of sleepdriving made national headlines nearly a year ago. Given the usage and marketing, the agency should now take a much closer look at advertising. Maybe the warning letter issued the other day to Takeda is a belated step in the right direction.
And here’s a hint to journalists: before citing studies by the National Sleep Foundation, keep in mind that the non-profit accepts funding from drugmakers. This doesn’t mean the data is wrong, but consider the source.
Thanks to Medco Health Solutions for providing the chart and accompanying data.
[tags]Ambien, FDA, Lunesta, Rozerem, Sanofi-Aventis, Sepracor, Sleeping Pills, Takeda Pharmaceuticals[/tags]
bob goldberg
As long as said journalists also keep in mind that other non-profits that want to discredit such information receive their funding from sources that are also not disclosed such as George Soros, The Tides Foundation, Community Catalyst, the Prescription Access Litigation Project as well as revealing if they receive the bulk of their income serving as expert witnesses for plaintiffs or defendants, etc. And for that matter, as anyone who tried to advance the argument that schizophrenia had a biological basis back in 60’s or maintained that ulcers had a bacterial component discovered, not all bias has a financial component….
Lisa Van Syckel
Did this gentleman forget to take his daily PAXIL! If it werent for said Journalists the scandal surrounding antidepressants in children would still be buried under a scummy rock.You cant get any lower than harming or killing children for profit!!!!
ed
Hi Bob,
Good to hear from you. And I agree that not all bias has a finacial component. And not all biased individuals, for that matter, necessarily get their facts wrong.
I simply felt the need to remind folks that consider the source of information, whatever the information, is worthwhile. And that should always work both ways.
As for the Nat’l Sleepy Foundation, there was a good piece in the Columbia Journalism Review last year - http://www.cjr.org/issues/2005/4/lieberman.asp - that mentions in greater detail the point I was raising.
And Lisa, I say this with my own bias that shining a light on moldy clinical trial data is a good thing. And generally speaking, journalists have more flashlights than others. Hopefully, the flashlights will be used, and used properly.
See you,
ed